SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING A COMPLETE VIEW OF LARGE COMPUTING NETWORKS

• US 20100306305A1
• Filed: 05/28/2009
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: DeHaan, Michael Paul
• Granted Patent: US 8,219,611 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

The management tool can determine and store all information that is relevant to the computing systems in the network. The management tool can generate and provide reports that are customizable by a requester. The management tool can receive a request to generate a report which specifies the information relevant to the computing systems to be included in the report. The management tool can search the stored information and generate the report with the stored information that matches the request. The reports can include network topology maps based on the request and geographic maps based on the request.

Claims

1. A method of managing a network, comprising:

maintaining information for computing systems in the network, wherein the information comprises physical locations of the computing systems and network locations of the computing systems;

receiving a request for the information about the computing systems; and

providing a report comprising the requested information and at least one of the physical locations and the network locations of the computing systems.

2. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

determining the information for the computing systems; and

storing the information in a computer readable storage medium.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the information comprises at least one of examining the computing systems to determine the information, communicating with a network management server to determine the information, communicating with an application executing on the computing system to determine the information, and receiving the information from an entity associated with the computing systems.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information further comprises hardware contained in the computing systems, software contained in the computing systems, configurations of the computing systems, and state of the computing systems.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request comprises:

providing an interface for receiving the request.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the record comprises:

generating network map comprising the requested information and the network locations; and

providing the network map.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the report comprises:

generating a geographic map comprising the requested information and the network locations; and

providing the geographic map.

8. A system for managing a network, comprising:

a network interface to a set of computing systems in the network; and

a processor, communicating with the network interface and executing a management tool, the management tool being configured to

maintain information for the computing systems in the network, wherein the information comprises physical locations of the computing systems and network locations of the computing systems;

receive a request for the information about the computing systems; and

provide a report comprising the requested information and at least one of physical locations and the network locations of the computing systems.

9. The system of claim 8, the management tool being further configured to

determine the information for the computing systems;

and

store the information in a computer readable storage medium.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein determining the information comprises at least one of examining the computing systems to determine the information, communicating with a network management server to determine the information, communicating with an application executing on the computing system to determine the information, and receiving the information from an entity associated with the computing systems.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the information further comprises hardware contained in the computing systems, software contained in the computing systems, configurations of the computing systems, and state of the computing systems.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein receiving the request comprises:

providing an interface for receiving the set of the information.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein providing the record comprises:

generating network map comprising the requested information and the network locations; and

providing the network map.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein providing the report comprises:

generating a geographic map comprising the requested information and the physical locations, wherein the geographic map illustrates the physical locations of the computing systems; and

providing the geographic map.

15. A management application, the management application being embodied in a computer readable storage medium and comprising instructions for causing a processor to perform a method comprising:

maintaining information for computing systems in the network, wherein the information comprises physical locations of the computing systems and network locations of the computing systems;

receiving a request for the information about the computing systems; and

providing a report comprising the requested information and at least one of the physical locations and the network locations of the computing systems.

16. The management application of claim 15, the method filer comprising:

determining the information for the computing systems; and

storing the information in a computer readable storage medium.

17. The management application of claim 16, wherein determining the information comprises at least one of examining the computing systems to determine the information, communicating with a network management server to determine the information, communicating with an application executing on the computing system to determine the information, and receiving the information from an entity associated with the computing systems.

18. The management application of claim 15, wherein the information further comprises hardware contained in the computing systems, software contained in the computing systems, configurations of the computing systems, and state of the computing systems.

19. The management application of claim 15, wherein receiving the request comprises:

providing an interface for receiving the set of the information.

20. The management application of claim 15, wherein providing the record comprises:

generating network map comprising the requested information and the network locations; and

providing the network map.

21. The management application of claim 15, wherein providing the report comprises:

generating a geographic map comprising the requested information and the physical locations; and

providing the geographic map.